My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Moyer gets knocked around in lost to the Giants.

Jamie Moyer gets knocked around by the Giants as the Phillies lose yesterday afternoon, 8-2, tying the weekend series at 1 victory apiece. For the third game in a row the Phillies would score first as Ryan Howard hits a solo home run off of Giants’ starter, Tim Lincecum, his seven of the year, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Giants would strike back in the bottom of the second, as Aaron Rowand ties the game by hitting a solo home run of his own off Moyer, his fourth home run of the season. Lincecum would then help his own cause with a RBI single off of Moyer, knocking in Jose Castillo, who has earlier doubled. Moyer, who was unable to get batters out after getting ahead in the count, as well as not pitching inside against hitters, got knocked around in the third as he gave up three runs. With the bases loaded and one out, Moyer gives up a sacrifice fly to Emmanuel Burriss, scoring Randy Winn, who has got on base earlier with a single. Then with two outs, Daniel Ortmeier doubles, scoring Rowand and Castillo, both of whom has gotten on base with singles, making it a 5-1 Giants’ lead. Finally, in the fourth, Moyer would give up a solo home run to Winn, his first of the year, giving the Giants a 6-1 lead. Moyer would be taken out for a pitch hitter in the fifth as he would give up six earned runs to the Giants on nine hits. Meanwhile, Lincecum would have things his way through most of the game as he stifled the Phils’ bats. The Giants would increase their lead by adding a run in the fifth on a fielding error by Chris Coste, who, after tagging the plate to erase Rowand on a Lincecum ground ball to Howard for the second out of the inning, would commit a throwing error to first trying to get out Lincecum, scoring Castillo, who has singled earlier. The Giants would then make it an 8-1 lead in the sixth inning as Castillo singles in Omar Vizquel, who has earlier singled. Coste would hit a solo home run in the eighth inning off of Lincecum, his third of the year, making it an 8-2 Giants’ lead. But that would be it, as Brian Wilson would come in to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Jamie Moyer took the lost, seeing his record drop to 2-3 and his ERA rise to 5.02, as he pitches only four innings. Rudy Seanez would pitch two innings of relief, giving up two runs, only one of which were earned, on five hits. Ryan Madson would pitch one inning, giving up no runs on no hits, and Clay Condrey would also pitch one inning of relief, as he gave up no runs on one hit. Tim Lincecum was the winning pitcher for the Giants, giving up two earned runs on four hits as he kept the Phils’ bats quiet for most of the game. His record is now 5-1 as his ERA drops to 1.61. Brian Wilson would pitch one inning in relief, giving up no runs on no hits.

The lost put the second place Phils (21-17) two games behind the Marlins, as the fish won their game with the Nationals, while they stay a game ahead of the Mets, who split a day-night doubleheader with the Reds, and a game and a half ahead of the Braves, who were beaten for the second game in a row by the lowly Pirates.

In the final game of the series and of their road trip, the Phils will send Adam Eaton (0-1, 5.63), who is still looking for his first victory as he lost his last start against the Diamondbacks back on May 6. Eaton would go four innings, giving up six earned runs on five hits in the Phils’ 6-4 lost. He’ll be looking to pick up his first win of the season. His opponent will be Jonathan Sanchez (2-2, 4.74), who is coming off a hard lost against the Pirates, also on May 6. Sanchez would give up seven earned runs on six hits while going four and one-third innings in the Giants’ 12-6 lost. He will be trying to get his third victory of the year. The game starts at 4:05 pm Eastern (1:05 pm Pacific) at AT&T Park.

The road trip has been hard for the Phils, as their hot hitters, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell, have both cool down, with Burrell actually batting under .300 for the first time since the start of the season. The Phils hope that the two will catch fire again, while Howard starts to get hot, if they hope to stay in contention for the National League East as they head back to Philadelphia for the start of their next home stand.

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